Book Review
Move over Nigella, Nigel and Nadiya
The cookbook of the year was written by an elderly rogue and self-published
Dante, 700 years on
We, too, are exiled from Florence
The story of the people, by the people
What is History, Now? offers a passionate defence of the pluralism of historical study
Matters of fact in a post-truth world
The message of The Constitution of Knowledge is one of hope, as Rauch urges those who resent the censors to “unmute” themselves
A life indecently full of fun and games
This is not a journey you will find in most accounts of the twentieth century
An Enlightenment king vindicated
Andrew Roberts dispels the myths and sticks to the facts about George III
Murders for early December
Pass the time by these passages into times present and past: post-war to Covid-era
Thinly-veiled but enjoyable nonsense
Donald Trump should write a novel to at least give him the chance to deliver a bit of payback for this release by Hillary Clinton
Sparks, glitterballs and masterworks
The greatest works of fiction published this year
Fast food and stolen goods
The Critic Narrated: Episode Seven, with Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Daisy Dunn and Michael Prodger
Most Read
The establishment is still living in an immigration fantasy land
It is influential left-wingers, not the broader public, who have deluded themselves on mass migration
American strategy in Iran is wiser than it seems
President Trump’s intervention will leave the world safer than it was
Saint Nicola
Nicola Sturgeon wants sympathy for her husband’s crimes—but after years spent avoiding awkward questions, her latest reinvention may be the hardest sell yet.
On Britain as a capitalist command economy
It is neither neoliberal nor socialist but a secret third thing
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
The paté of the Land
Chinese water deer, partridges and paté
We must save the right to smoke
Liberals must not put down the sword against paternalism
Assisted suicide has been dealt a fatal blow
The Scottish Parliament arrived at the right decision. Westminster should do the same
Graphics, games and occult entities
A retrospective of Treister’s work reveals the frictions in the artist’s motivations
Italian elegance
Italian Perspectives (Pentatone)
A high-speed tour of European History
Europe: A New
History by Roderick Beaton
Why the left has nowhere left to go
Chris Bayliss and Tom Jones discuss how progressivism got left behind
Keeping the faith
Brexit triumphalists can’t understand how other people living in the UK in 2026 do not share their enthusiasm
The BBC needs competition
The scandal-ridden Beeb is doomed if it is not held to higher standards
The Muslim modernisers
Muslim reformers do not innovate; they renew by seeking to mend what is broken
The poetry of Easter
Reason cannot entirely account for the particular and the mysterious